Gay Schempp

Gay’s art uses a wide range of materials including oil paint, pastel, watercolor and encaustic. As an internationally exhibited artist and award winning teacher, she brings a lifelong commitment to her practice of producing original work which marries narrative content to expressive, gestural painting. Gay teaches both group and private classes in drawing, painting and encaustic in her sunny Whiting Mills studio.

Gay worked as a studio potter producing functional and sculptural stoneware for 20 years. She has coordinated and led art and mythology tours to Japan and Greece as well as co-leading Art and Yoga retreats in Connecticut and Italy for 9 years. Currently she is producing watercolor, pastel, encaustics and oil paintings in her studio at Whiting Mills.

Gay has been teaching art for over 40 years, as an internationally known artist and a Nationally Certified Teacher in New Canaan High School. She brings her philosophy that “Creativity Matters” to every aspect of her teaching. Students learn skills of making art as well as the process of creating unique work.

Gay Schempp of Winchester, has been exploring collage over the past three years. “I work in a variety of media and in this work I am incorporating my love for drawing, painting, collaging and composing visual stories. I am using a painterly approach to combine drawings, pieces of found images, photographs and textured papers in a narrative style,” she says. “The encaustic wax medium allows me to work in layers, trapping fragments of color, memory and message in time. The content of my imagery expresses a life-long fascination with mythology, symbols and the culture of ancient civilizations. Travel, History, Music, Spirituality and the exploration of personal Mythology are the inspirations for my images.” Gay teaches at her studio at Whiting Mills, Winsted. She as been an artist and teacher for over 30 years, and was awarded “Teacher of the Year” by the CT Art Education Association and has exhibited nationally, and won numerous awards. She is also co-leader for Art and Yoga Retreats in Italy and Connecticut. From: The Hartford Courant